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Apple Has Stopped Producing Usable Notebook Computers

14th Oct 2008, 21:29:46

By James Stocks

Earlier this year, my good lady's iBook G3 ceased to operate. Whilst this was bad, it didn't really
owe us anything after delivering six years of trouble free service. We had been holding back from
ordering a replacement because of the long anticipated new Apple notebooks which were finally
announced today. Now, however, I doubt that we will ever purchase another Apple notebook...

We are both professional users (I'm a network administrator, she's a web programmer). We both intensely dislike glossy, glass finish displays. I realise
that these displays aren't a
new development, the current fad for gloss finish LCDs appeared a few years ago and has slowly become the
standard equipment for most notebooks, but quite a sizable proportion of pro users hate
them. When I bought a notebook back in April, I had to spend more than I wanted to and buy
the MacBook Pro so that I could order the matte screen. When Apple announced the new MacBooks today
I saw that the new MacBook shares the aluminium enclosure of the 'Pro' model so
I dared to hope that they might offer the matte screen on the MacBook, making it a perfect
replacement for the iBook. Err, no. Instead they
announced that from now on, all Apple displays will be glossy with no option to specify matte. At
any price.

Because of the stupid shiny screens I don't know what to do now. We are a Mac household and find
using anything other than OS X a royal pain, but we don't want to look at the reflections of the
light fittings all day. Judging by some of the disussion occuring on the web, I know that we are
not alone in our dislike. Almost any amout of glare or reflection on the screen causes me headaches
and eyestrain, this seems to be a similar problem for many others with less than perfect vision.

Apple's justification for one of the worst decisions they've ever made; "consumers love it".
Well bollocks to
consumers, Apple, what about us pro users who actually use your products all day? We know what we
want so why not give us the option of buying a display that is actually usable?

1 Archived Comment

6th Aug 2010, 12:22:16 by rikkusI'd suggest trying one out. I was worried too, as I hate glare, but in practice it's hardly ever a problem. Occasionally, depending on how I'm sitting, I have to slightly change the screen angle to avoid the reflection from a light, but it's really no bother.